


The Lion and the Wolf

by AryaWinter



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Other, R Plus L Equals J
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 03:45:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18065990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryaWinter/pseuds/AryaWinter
Summary: A meeting of minds between the Bastard of Winterfell and the Kingslayer





	The Lion and the Wolf

“A sword for the war?”  
Jaime looked up and saw the King approach. A lot had changed since they were last in this smithy all those years ago. Two very different men had spoken with each other.

“I already have one” Jaime responded, inadvertently swapping roles with the Bastard of Winterfell all those years ago. Jaime grimaced at the sudden return of the last time they stood here. Two very different men indeed.

That same Bastard gave a sad smile, clearly remembering that same conversation. He looked at Jaime, “Strange thing the first time you cut a man, you realize you’re nothing but sacks of meat, blood, and some bone to keep it all standing”

Jaime took in the young king. Nothing like Ned but yet clearly a Stark. How did no one know? “Didn’t think you would remember our conversation. Let me thank you, truly this time, for protecting us all from the perils beyond the wall.”

“Aye, I remember. I remember a pompous ass telling me the truth about what I was going to face and I was too young and dumb and ready to die for a cause to realize you were not lying. You can thank me if we win this war.”

No, nothing like Ned. Ned would have loathed every moment spent in Jaime’s presence, wouldn’t have acknowledged him at all, after, well, everything. This boy had more to be angry with him than he even realized if what Tyrion said was true.

“Your Grace, I…”  
“I am no King, Jaime Lannister. I bent the knee.” Jon Snow looked around as he said that. Jaime knew he had but he also knew the secret that had this King on edge.  
“Beg your pardon but I swore an oath-”  
“Come with me, Jaime Lannister. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about those oaths.”

Jaime followed him through the courtyards and halls, past the Great Hall where the ghost of Robert could still be heard asking for wine and where the King in the North and the Dragon Queen had wed no long ago, past the Tower where Jaime had sealed this realm’s fate by pushing Brandon Stark out of a window. He was still shocked that Lord Stark had let him live. The cold way he had forgiven Jaime and said that Jaime had a role play. A shiver ran down his back as the passed into the warmth of the Lord of Winterfell’s solar. Lady Stark had taken up residence here despite her brother returning from beyond the wall and Jaime could not understand why.

He sat in front of the king, who stared at him with no mirth but also no anger. A blank look followed by the iron tones of Rhaegar, Prince of Dragonstone, tinged with a northern accent, “Kingslayer, Kinslayer and Oathbreaker. Yet here you are swearing to all the gods that you want to protect the realms of man.”

“Your Grace, I…”  
“I am no KING.” Jon Snow said again firmly, ice dripping from every syllable, but no evident anger in his face or body language. Jon Snow continued, “Her Grace is the one true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, it is…”

“I beg your pardon, your Grace, but you are your father’s son and have married your aunt. As such you have as much right to that damn thing as anyone else.”

“Kingslayer, I am, as ever, the bastard of Winterfell. I have no rights to anything other than my life, and my life is hers since she saved it.”

“You’re still that dumb boy then if you think no one knows the truth, Aegon.”

Cold rolled steel would break at the fierceness with which Jon Snow looked at him, ever so quietly, “Kingslayer, for many years I have let the Bastard title be my armor against the world. It is safer being nothing, no one. I was never and have never been an Aegon.”

“Then why am I here, my lord?” Jaime spat out that list bit.

“To answer questions about…” Snow struggled here “Her grace’s...my...Rhaegar Targaryen.”  
Jaime was struck dumb. He knew so little about Jon Snow, truly. Looking at the boy’s face he had to concede it had been a long time since he had taken his measure. A Dragon in wolf’s clothing it is true. That is why he had walked him here, away from prying eyes and ears. No one of course knew the truth for sure yet. Only rumors, especially after he had flown on the green dragon.

“Ah for someone who has never been Aegon, you have a lot of questions.”  
“Aye, I do. The future is uncertain, but if I am to die, I would rather die knowing all parts of me than none. It’s often been said I know nothing,” another sad smile, “I would like to know something before I die.”

“May it not be for a long time, your...my lord.”

“Jaime, please. I know what you did to protect this realm, Dany told me.”

“Dany…ah, I see you are more Targaryen than we thought.”

Instead of the explosive rage he had expected from the King, Jaime was gifted with a true laugh, one filled with mirth and and more than a little irony.

“Aye, that may be the case. If we die, we die but first we live. Please Ser, tell me about Rhaegar.”

So Jaime began, told him how he idolized Rhaegar, The Last Dragon. How Rhaegar was a warrior, but hated it. How he was a scholar but a fool for a girl. The last man truly worthy of being a King of all seven kingdoms. How he laid his hand on a young Jaime’s shoulder and called him both a crutch for the Mad King and a “his last words to me were ‘We shall talk when I return.’”

All the while, Jon had smiled at both the similarities and differences, but Jon’s smile dropped here, “How funny those were my father’s last words to me.” Jaime sat confused until he realized he meant Ned.

“My lord, he saved your life by lying. He had to, or else you would have been killed, just like your siblings, just like their mother..”

Jon was truly despondent then. Quietly, he acquiesced, “Yes, you’re right. I am nothing but the leftovers of a romance that caused an entire dynasty to fall.”

“Your Grace, let me serve you. I had promised to defend and protect Rhaegar’s family with my life and I was too...too late to save them. Let me protect you.”

Jon didn’t fight him this time, “Thank you, Ser Jaime, for your words. I cannot say what they mean. Many here knew my mother, precious few knew who my sire was, and those that remain even less.”

Jaime sat in silence, Jon Snow had not dismissed him. He would not leave until asked. In companionable silence they sat for a time.

“Well, Ser Jaime, we have a lot of work to do.”

“Is it we already?” Daenery Targaryen, first of her name, stood in the doorway alongside the white wolf that followed Jon everywhere. Jaime fell over himself to bow.

“Your Grace, I was just..”

“I know what you were just doing, Ser Jaime. My King has a lot on his conscience and I had hoped you could help. Did he, my King?

“Aye, My queen.” The King stood up again, offered his arm to his wife and walked out, wolf in tow. “Ser Jaime, we expect to see you at the council meeting. Your council is needed.”

Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander of the King's Guard, Oathbreaker, Kingslayer and Kinslayer, sat in awe, not for the first time, of the Last Dragon.

**Author's Note:**

> This was surprisingly hard to write. Dialogue is not my forte but even more so Jaime Lannister is hard to do. He's cool and suave and witty but also a little broken and a little lost. I would love to play with him more but feedback is appreciated!


End file.
